Home Networking: The Missing Manual

By Scott Lowe
July 2005
Pages: 263
Series: The Missing Manuals
ISBN 10: 0-596-00558-X | ISBN 13: 9780596005580
(1) (Average of 1 Customer Reviews)

Description

Using clear language, straightforward explanations, and a dash of humor, Home Networking: The Missing Manual shows you how to do everything you need to set up a home network. This book helps you understand the difference between what you need to know to create and use your home network and what's best left to those looking for a career as a system administrator. In Home Networking: The Missing Manual you'll find everything you need to get your network running-and nothing more.
Full Description

Millions of computers around the world today are connected by the Internet, so why is it still so hard to hook up a few PCs in you own home? Whether you want to share an Internet connection, install WiFi, or maybe just cut down on the number of printers you own, home networks are supposed to help make your life easier. Instead, most aspiring home networkers get lost in a confusing maze of terms and technologies: 802.11g, Fast Ethernet, Cat 5 cable (or was it Cat 5e?), Powerline, and on and confusingly on. That's where Home Networking: The Missing Manual comes in. Using clear language, straightforward explanations, and a dash of humor, this book shows you how to do everything you need to set up a home network. Coverage includes: WiFi, Ethernet, or Powerline? There are several kinds of digital pipes that you can use to create your network, and none of them have friendly names. This book tells you what they are, explains the pros and cons of each, and helps you figure out what you need to buy, and how to install it. Windows and Mac info included. Half the battle in home networking takes place after you've bought your gear and plugged it in. That's because the routers, network adapters, and cables that you need get you only part way towards networking nirvana. Whether you've got PCs or Macs or both, you'll need help tweaking your computers' settings if you want to get all your machines talking to each other. This book covers most known operating system flavors, including Windows XP, 2000, Me, and 98, and Mac OS X and OS 9. Fun things to do with your network. The real fun starts once your network is up and running. This book shows you how to do much more than simply share an Internet connection and a printer. You'll learn how to stream music from your PCs to your stereo, how to display pictures on your TV, how to hook up game consoles to your network, and more! Most important, this book helps you understand the difference between what you need to know to create and use your home network and what's best left to those looking for a career as a system administrator. In Home Networking: The Missing Manual you'll find everything you need to get your network running-and nothing more.

Featured customer reviews

Rather Disappointing, July 03 2006

Rating:

Submitted by faton4paws [Respond | View]

When we purchased this particular book, we were hoping for something akin to the Thompson's books on computer hardware and building computers (PC Hardware in a Nutshell and Building the Perfect PC, O'Reilly books). Something that used humor to explain what seems to be a complicated process -- setting up a home network. Instead we found a condescending jerk who "claimed" to make home networking easier, but in fact just gives you about three pages of information on the actual networking bit, and 36 pages of useless advice on what to network. I was so thoroughly disappointed with this book that, were it not for my other excellent experiences with O'Reilly books in general, I'd never trust this publishing company again. If you're actually interested in learning anything about networking, don't buy this book!

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Media reviews
"This book breaks the process of setting up a home network down into managable steps. It talks about both Windows and Mac OS setup, and shows easy ways to get the two operating systems talking to each other. It shows how to set up wireless AND regular networks -- it even mentions Powerline networking, and shows how it can be used to extend an existing network. Everything you need to start networking at home is right here, in one volume."
-- Warren Kelly, Amazon.com

"One of the beauties of the Missing Manuals is that there is always something new to discover and the research is quite thorough...I kept finding snippets of information, in the way of Tips or Notes, that would give just that bit extra."
-- Graham K. Rogers, Bangkok Post

"There are a lot of good books, but I keep returning to the Missing Manual series because they are inexpensive, easy to read and full of cool tricks and tips."
-- Bob Brooks, The South Bay Apple Mac User Group

"...now that you have computers scattered around the house, it might be a
good time to investigate getting them to talk to each other, especially if
you want them all online...Luckily, O'Reilly has just released its Home
Networking: The Missing Manual...You won't need a separate dictionary of
acronyms to read this handbook--it's designed for home users, not network
engineers."

Strategic Finance Magazine

"If all you want to do is get your home network up and running (that is,
you're not looking to moonlight as a network administrator), this is the
manual for you. The chapter available for download here covers sharing
resources among networked Windows PCs."

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"One of the beauties of the Missing Manuals is that there is always something new to discover and the research is quite thorough...I kept finding snippets of information, in the way of Tips or Notes, that would give just that bit extra."
--Graham K. Rogers, Bangkok Post